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KUALA LUMPUR – Over the weekend, formally World No.2 tower runner Soh Wai Ching climbed to No. 1 as he has been confirmed as the Guinness World Record holder for Greatest Vertical Height Stair Climbing in One Hour (Male).
While the attempt was made on the 18th of November, confirmation from the adjudicator, Swapnil Dangarikar, from India was done within the following 48 hours; securing Wai Ching the title on the 20th.
“Achieving a world record is the ultimate dream for any athlete but for Malaysia Towerrunning Association and myself, we have just past our infant stage and only about 30% of where we can take this relatively new sport in Malaysia”, says Soh Wai Ching.
Despite being short of approximately 70m from his trial run, Wai Ching managed to complete 1.295 km with the support of friends, family, Four Seasons KL as the official venue and main sponsors – TNB, Allianz, KBS, US Potatoes, ISN and Yakult. This is the equivalent to almost 400 floors and is about 8,000 steps in total.
While Wai Ching may be feeling a little down casted about not being able to meet the same results as he did during his trial run, he is not letting this stop him from moving forward.
“Taking up this challenge, we faced so many obstacles but kept positive by focusing only on solutions, one by one. The journey has prepared us for greater heights and belief,” says Ravinder Singh, Vice President of Malaysia Towerrunning Association.
When The Vibes contacted him about his future plans, he mentioned that he will not only be attempting to engrave his name into the Malaysia Book of Record for three titles but will also attempt to break the Guinness World Record for Fastest Vertical Mile Stair Climbing (Male), which is currently held by fellow Japanese tower runner Ryoji Watanabe.
Initially, Wai Ching planned to pioneer three Malaysian Book of Records titles on the Stairmaster machine for the ‘Fastest Time to Achieve the Height of Petronas Twin Towers on a Stairmaster Machine’, the ‘Most Number of Steps Achieved on Stairmaster Machine in One Hour’ and the ‘Fastest Time to Achieve 1000m on a Stairmaster Machine’ on October 10, during the Hari Sukan Negara in front of the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and the Youth Minister, Datuk Seri Reezal Merican. However, the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to his attempt.
Regardless of what comes, these attempts will still proceed after the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) has been lifted. All in which will take place at the Bangsar showroom of Italian fitness equipment manufacturer, Technogym.
After these attempts have been reached, Wai Ching, will move on to attempting to break his friend, Watanabe’s, record for Guinness World Record for Fastest Vertical Mile (1.6km) Stair Climbing.
He plans to attempt this at the KLCC Petronas Twin Tower, with the condition that logistics are all in place. Alternatively, Wai Ching is looking to complete this attempt at the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, with the building being the tallest in the world. Pandemic or not, Wai Ching is not stopping to reach new heights. – The Vibes, November 23, 2020
